Gone Native: New Days, New Problems (ch. 39) (Patreon)

"Raven!" I heard as soon as the light faded from my eyes and there was a blur of motion that slammed into Raven, who had seemed to be hiding behind me. Kori embraced Raven, squeezing her so tightly that I'm pretty sure I could hear the creaking of her bones. "You have returned! I believed that you would," Kori said, holding Raven tightly and I could see the expressions warring on Raven's face.

Her grayish skin tone had returned, and she only had two eyes once again, but it was evident that the balance she strived for was still far out of reach. Normally, I doubt she would do much as blink, but in the span of a second I saw guilt, fear, longing, and acceptance wash over her face as she tepidly returned the hug. Kori, on the other hand, was vibrating with relief. After a long few seconds, Kori let go just enough so that she could look at me, "You have our sincerest thanks for returning Raven to us."

"I'm not a lost dog," Raven grumbled, not looking displeased. The Titans were clearly relieved to see her again with Beast Boy jumping up to join the hug. Her gaze met mine for a moment before she offered a small nod. I returned it, and I didn't fail to notice how Robin took notice of the brief look, glancing between us.

However, it couldn't be said that everyone was happy to see Raven. Elery flew up from her position on the couch, crossing her arms as she looked down at Raven with a mask of anger. "You're a fight thief!" Elery leveled the accusation like a death sentence, earning a round of nods from her team. Even Broly offered a hesitant, but damning, nod.

"Elery, that fight was way beyond any of us," Robin spoke up as Elery glowered at Raven. "We barely held our own against Faust-"

"Who was also defeated by Raven," Elery interjected.

I could see Robin getting the impression that he was somehow making things worse, so Beast Boy picked up where he left off. "Dude, if you fought that girl then you all would have died. Like, full stop. I know you're tough, Elery, but you aren't Broly or Raven tough. I mean, Broly started shouting and I thought the entire universe was going to fall apart." Beast Boy remarked, casting a wide eyed glance at Broly, who seemed a little sheepish.

Kakarot shook his head, "That doesn't matter. She was strong and we were going to fight her. Then Raven stole the fight from us. If she just waited her turn after we got beat, it'd be fine, but she didn't. And she made us leave that weird dimension so we couldn't steal the fight back," Kakarot said, looking absolutely everywhere but at me. All the while he spoke, he was getting supporting nods from Elery and Olaive, who floated toward me as if they could pressure me into siding with them.

"Is… that a big deal?" Raven questioned, her tone openly hesitant and the sound of it made Kori pull back ever so slightly. The same with Beast Boy, who gazed at Raven with some level of confusion.

"Yes!" Elery quickly answered.

"It's the biggest deal," Kakarot quickly seconded.

I offered a small nod as I crossed my arms, "For Saiyans, stealing a fight is a pretty big faux pas. However, you aren't a Saiyan, and you were ignorant of the culture. There doesn't need to be a duel," I decided, making Elery, Olaive, and Kakarot tsk in unison. "An apology should be enough."

It was Kid Flash that spoke up, growling lightly, "Raven needs to apologize for saving their lives? Isn't that a bit messed up? Child was able to fight Raven and she could have wiped the entire team." He pointed out, and he wasn't wrong there. For humans, it was natural to thank the person that saved their lives.

Raven, sensing that it was about to become an argument, quickly spoke up. "I'm sorry, Elery. You too Olaive and Kakarot. I hope you can forgive me." I think everyone was at least a little put off by the sincerity dripping from her words. There was a thickness in her voice that could only come from emotion and Raven's expression conveyed  that she almost was on the verge of tears.

Elery stumbled back as she hovered near me, almost as if the words had physical impact. "It's… uh, it's fine. I guess. Just don't do it again?" Elery tried, settling the dispute by sharing a look with Olaive. They were put off at how… emotional Raven was acting.

Good.

"Now, Elery -- I think you owe me an apology," I said, reaching out and grabbing her by her cheeks, making her lips pucker like a fish. It was at that moment her eyes widened, it just now clicking what she confessed to. "What have I said about trying to fight forces of nature?"

Elery looked away, "To not do it…"

"Exactly right. What did you do?"

"...I tried to fight a force of nature… but… but, it's totally different than fighting a hurricane or something! She had a body I could fight!" Elery started to complain, trying to wiggle out of my grip. During the war, it was very common for planets to be completely devastated during the battles for them, and natural disasters were extremely common. I extracted that promise from Elery when she flew into a lightning storm because she wanted to fight thunder for scaring her. "It's totally different!"

"Not different enough," I decided, letting go of Elery's cheeks, and she rubbed them with a pout aimed my way. She didn't apologize, but it was easy enough to see that she had been chastised. Elery was strong enough at this point that most natural disasters would be a non issue. Something like a Lord of Chaos, though… that was something worth chastising her for. Unlike me, Elery didn't have anti-magic runes engraved into her soul. She didn't have any kind of resistance to magic.

That was the biggest danger to our people. As we grew stronger, our resilience increased alongside our power. We could take stronger hits, endure a far greater range of environments, and so on. However, magic was a glaring weakness. Though, someone throwing a magic fireball at us wouldn't do much -- I could bathe in lava, so a little flame wouldn't do anything to me even without my soul runes. That wasn't an issue. The issue was spells that could take over someone's mind, like with Broly in the battle for Earth. Or instantly kill them, regardless of how physically strong they were.

In that regard, a Lord of Chaos, or any powerful magic user, was the biggest threat to the Saiyan race. We lacked proper resistances to spell craft as well as a reliable means to attack. While I did believe  there were a number of Saiyans that could endure having their souls engraved… not only did I think it was a poor idea to begin with, but the one that engraved my soul died with the 501st.

"Can I fight them when I become a Super Saiyan?" Elery tried to haggle, earning a flat look.

"Try an Ascended Super Saiyan," I shot the idea down.

"But I don't even know what that is!" Elery complained unhappily, but my point had been made. As things were, a number of Saiyans were already feeling restless with the war ending. I didn't need them making trouble or picking fights that they couldn't win.

Instead of responding, I chose to look at Broly. Or, rather, the burn marks that he was sporting, "Are those injuries not healing?" I asked him, and he seemed a bit embarrassed. They didn't seem to be anything a Medicine Ball couldn't fix, but if they were, then they wouldn't still be there. Broly started to poke at the wounds, only to stop himself while shaking his head.

"No? They don't hurt that much, though," Broly offered.

It was Raven that spoke, "You Saiyans can't trust your sense of pain." She pointed out, drifting over. Beast Boy broke off from the impromptu group hug, but Kori just clung to Raven as she floated over and rested a hand on Broly's shoulder. Raven stiffened, making Kori appear worried, before the injuries on Broly began to fade. "You were burned with hellfire… and chaos magic…" she trailed off, looking at Broly like she couldn't comprehend how he was even alive.

Broly just aimed a boyish smile at her, "Thanks, Raven," he said, looking good as new. "Oh, and I'm not mad about you taking my opponent." That caught my attention.

Raven seemed to notice that and glanced at me before she looked to an empty place near the couch. A spot of darkness began to well, almost like an ink blot, before expanding. A second later, a crystalline  body rose up. My attention was drawn to the runes that were carved into what passed as the creature's skin. "I'm not sure Child created this," Raven spoke up, her lips thinned. "It's too…  well designed. I believe it's something that she repurposed into being her familiar." She glanced again at Broly, "I really don't understand how you were able to fight this thing. The chaos magic in it allows it to completely ignore concepts -- like durability, or damage."

Broly nodded like that made sense, "Yeah, it kept breaking my bones when it hit me. That usually doesn't happen." I could attest to that. I think Broly was the most durable thing I had ever come across. Second only to Nth metal. "It was pretty strong… I ended up losing control for a bit, but Raven stopped me before I could hurt anyone."

Elery was looking more and more interested at the inanimate creature, and seemed severely disappointed when Raven let it sink back into her shadow. Raven seemed to flinch at Broly's words, visibly struggling with her emotions that could be plainly seen on her face. She seemed to find some comfort in Kori's continuous hug, though.

"Then our goal is set," I decided, crossing my arms. "We need to increase our training." Raven shot a sharp look at me, and I nodded, confirming her unspoken question. Trigon the Terrible would be my next major enemy. I couldn't say when a confrontation would take place between us, only that it would. To that end, it was important that I stepped up my own training.

With the defeat of the heroes and the ending of the war, I didn't feel the same pressure that had always been there when I trained. There wasn't the same sense of urgency that pushed me to just go a little further. An enemy that could lay waste to an entire universe would be good motivation.

"Yeah!" Elery cheered and Kakarot… he looked like he bit into something sour. "I'm going to your time chamber! Race you there!" Elery decided, making Olaive and Kakarot quickly follow. The latter seeming to just not want to be in the same room as me.

A sigh escaped me when the trio decided to bust through another window instead of entering through the one I broke to get in. Robin seemed equally displeased. I watched them go, my gaze lingering on Kakarot's back.

If I had any doubts that he knew about my team's plan to murder my brother, then they had throughly been dispelled. Kakarot knew. So did his mother.

I hated them for it.

I empathized with their plight.

Above all else, I was clueless on what I wanted to do with them. Punish them? It would raise questions about my brother's death. Questions that I didn't want to answer. Leaving them be, however, left a bad taste in my mouth. It felt like I was letting them get away with my brother's murder.

Shaking my head to dismiss the thoughts, I looked back to Raven. "You will be joining our training sessions. You're powerful. You need to stop fearing your power," I told her in no uncertain terms. From what I understood, the fear of her power made the situation worse than it needed to be. Perhaps there was a tangible influence from her father the stronger she became, but the way she feared it made an easily exploitable chink in her mental defenses.

"We all will," Robin decided, giving me a curt nod. I accepted that while Raven searched my face for a moment while I floated up. Time was short as it was. Raven told me that we weren't the only ones looking for the Dragon Balls. I could only imagine who else she had told. From what I knew, the Dragon Balls were functionally useless unless they were all gathered together. We currently had the four star Dragon Ball, so in theory, there wasn't an immediate danger.

All the same, the wish that the Dragon Balls offered was too tempting to be ignored. I wanted to find them before anyone else did. It wasn't just a safety precaution.

"Thank you," Raven told me as I made to leave with Broly joining me. "For everything, Tarble." She followed it up with.

It was hardly the first time I had been thanked, but this time felt a little different than those before. It was a surprisingly good feeling, I decided as I offered a curt nod and made to leave.

And Raven could sense that with her empath powers.

How annoying.

…

Broly chose to rejoin Elery and her team for training while I took a detour. The Four Star Dragon Ball was still in Azarath, but I knew someone that had another Dragon Ball. Getting my hands on it would be ideal, but I would settle on getting an idea of where it was. But, even that would prove to be tricky.

Which is why I decided to reach out to the two acting Co-presidents of the Justice League -- Superman and Wonder Woman, requesting for a meeting. Though, I would admit, I was surprised by the chosen location.

A farm in the middle of nowhere. Well, that wasn't quite true -- there was a small town nearby that seemed incredibly self aware based on the apt name of Smallville, and there were also a number of other farms dotted around it. Still, it seemed like an odd location. Part of me suspected that it was a trap as I flew towards Superman's ki signature.

The farm in question was a two story house with a painted barn located just off the side on the plot of land. There was a crop of corn growing in the fields from the looks of it. Floating down, I landed lightly in front of Superman, who chose to wear a pair of dusty blue jeans and a plaid shirt along with a pair of glasses on his face. There was an easy, if slightly nervous smile on his face.

I wasn't sure when exactly I started to trust Superman. There wasn't really an easily identifiable moment that convinced me that leading me into a trap to betray me just… wasn't something that he would do. I think it had something to do with his history. Superman could have ruled over this planet like a tyrant equal to Frieza, and he instead chose to be bound by laws. He chose to have his power and influence checked by outside sources. That was something I admired and wished to emulate.

"Tarble -- it's good to see you again," Superman greeted me, prompting Wonder Woman to step out of the modest building, also dressed casually -- blue jeans, a white dress shirt, and a jacket over it. She nodded at me, and I returned the human greeting. "You had something you wanted to discuss with us? Sorry, you kinda caught us in the middle of something."

I sensed another two people in the house, one of which spoke up. "Don't leave him standing out there, Clark -- invite him in."

Superman- Clark chuckled warmly, "Right, would you like to come inside? Ma just baked a pie," he informed.

"Very well," I agreed, stepping up the wooden steps. I was led into a living room -- it seemed… old? The furniture was clearly dated based on how it groaned when I took a seat in a chair while Clark and Wonder Woman sat on the couch with a small coffee table between us. I heard typing in the kitchen, telling me that whoever was in there understood that we all had super hearing and wanted to keep their conversation private. "The matter I wanted to discuss was about some colleagues of yours -- the Green Lanterns."

Wonder Woman's brow furrowed, "The Green Lanterns? I'm not sure how much help we will be in that case." I frowned, prompting her to continue. "Hal Jordan and John Stewart are members of the Justice League, but they've been on a leave of absence for years. Hal Jordan hasn't been on Earth for half a decade at this point, while John hasn't in two or three years."

Half a decade? So, roughly the same time that I had first met him and cut his arm off.

"We haven't been in contact in months, beyond information about you. We've tried to get in touch with him, but so far, we haven't heard anything back. Batman was under the impression that you were forcing a media blackout, preventing us from making contact with them," Clark voiced, looking at me while my frown deepened.

"No, there wouldn't be a point. If Hal Jordan wanted to get in contact then a blackout wouldn't stop him. But, when I first arrived on Earth, I had communication troubles with my fleets. I had to leave the planet to make contact with them. I was under the assumption that was your doing to prevent me from calling for reinforcements," I informed. That seemed to surprise them both.

Clark shook his head, "It's the first time I've heard anything about it."

"If it wasn't us, and it wasn't you, then the most likely suspect is Lex Luthor," Wonder Woman decided, not hesitating to make the accusation. It's what I liked about her. While I didn't care for the fact that she tried to leverage Broly's mind control to try to get me to surrender, I did respect her pragmatism. When we fought, she went for the kill. When my soldiers had been killed, she attempted to de-escalate but didn't cling to the idea when she saw that I wasn't willing to.

I nodded, thinking much the same. Luthor was a calculated gamble. It would hardly be the first time I've worked with a suspect character to advance my agenda. Luthor was intelligent enough to make himself the leader of humanity and he was capitalizing on the opportunities I put before him like I thought he would. Earth went from having the resources of a single planet to thousands, and Luthor's development strategy was perfect for exploiting those resources. He was good at what he did. I couldn't deny that.

It was just a question of if he was worth the risk that he posed.

"Very likely. I'll question him about it shortly, but that isn't why I'm here. I need to get in contact with Hal Jordan and the New Lanterns. But, Hal Jordan and I have… history."

Wonder Woman quirked an eyebrow, "You mean the ambush." I nodded, unsurprised that she heard about that. I had been famous before that battle, and I had already made my own legend, but the slaughter of the Green Lanterns was something that had rocked the galaxy. Green Lantern's rarely died. In that ambush which  I had orchestrated on a gamble that the Guardians of the Universe had been listening in on me through the Green Power Ring on my necklace, hundreds of Green Lanterns died.

"I killed a number of his allies and friends in that battle. And more in later battles when he created the insurgency that became the New Lanterns," I confirmed. Hal had been blunt in the Vega System -- I was his enemy. "Right now, the New Lanterns are burning through the goodwill they earned in the war with the Federation. They've carried on liberating slaves from the Trade Organization and Reach, and it's proven to be… chaotic."

Wonder Woman nodded, "Is that why he has not come? By now, he should know you've come to Earth. Have they even tried to approach?" She questioned, and I shook my head. It was easy to see that she was displeased by the answer.

"No. When I formally announced my empire would be breaking away from the Trade Organization, I told the galaxy that I would exterminate any aggressors," I admitted, making Clark wince at my wording. "It's possible that was enough to keep him at bay. I don't know. We won't know until we can speak to him, and I don't imagine he would answer any of my hails."

"We can reach out to him. It would be good to touch base with him and the New Lanterns. What exactly do you want to speak to him about?" Clark questioned, and it sounded innocent. However, I wasn't sure if I should say or not. While I didn't think Clark or Wonder Woman were actively working against me, I did think it was too soon to say that they were allies.

"My empire needs a policing force. I'm working with Robin to develop one, but it's proving to be expensive. Even for me," I admitted. Billions of trillions of credits every year. It was an expense that I could afford alone, but now that the economy was fully implemented, it was important to not expend all of my resources in a single place or category. "The New Lanterns are in danger of overstaying their welcome with the Federation. If possible, I would allow them in my borders on the condition that they obey my laws and uphold them in my empire."

Clark seemed surprised, "You would let them do that? I thought with things between you and Hal…"

"We were at war. Now we aren't," I clarified my feelings on the topic. "Hal Jordan hates me. But I never particularly hated Hal Jordan. I just think he's a stubborn ass." Something I very much doubted fusing with the Entity of Will would help.

With the New Lanterns acting as a broader policing force, my expenses would go down sharply and I believed that the New Lanterns comprised of enough quality individuals that I could trust them to uphold our laws. It was a good solution to both of our issues. I just didn't think Hal Jordan would see it that way and killing him would make things more complicated.

"We can't promise you anything, but at the very least, we will reach out to him on your behalf," Wonder Woman confirmed. I nodded as I made to stand up.

"Good. Then I will leave you to continue whatever it is you're doing," I started, but Wonder Woman caught my eye.

"I'm testing a recipe for the harvest celebration," she informed, earning a nod from Clark. "For thousands of years, Themyscira has celebrated with its own traditions, but I have been granted permission to include foodstuffs from Man's World. Which includes Mrs. Kent's blueberry cobbler." Kent. Clark's mother?

I saw where this was going. "I see. Then I shall bring something to the festival as well." I didn't know what. I did have an aquarium planet that I had cultivated with a number of aquatic species. Perhaps it was time I finally started fishing on it?

"My thanks. I believe that this year's festival shall prove… eventful," Wonder Woman remarked, seemingly needing to reach for the right word.

It was then that the couple in the kitchen decided to show themselves, bringing the scent of baked blueberries and pastry crust with them. An elderly couple stepped out, the grays in their hair betraying their age, but both seemed sturdy for elderly humans. The man gazed heavily at me while the woman entered with a slight smile, "Whose hungry?" She questioned, breaking the tension before it could form.

Clark stood up, taking the dish with his bare hand and setting it down on the coffee table. "Tarble, these are my parents -- Ma, Pa, this is Tarble. Well, King Tarble," he introduced us.

I tilted my head, "They're human."

"And you're the one that put my boy in the hospital," Pa Kent remarked lightly, not seeming all that happy with me. Clark winced ever so slightly, and again when I nodded.

"I did," I confirmed with a nod. Pa's face tightened, his lips thinning unhappily but he said nothing when his wife lightly patted him on the shoulder.

"If Clark can forgive him then you can too, John," Ma Kent remarked lightly, a warning in her tone. "It's not exactly a feast fit for royalty, but I'm proud of my cobbler."

Wonder Woman smiled brightly, "I wouldn't say it's not fit for royalty, Mrs. Kent. It smells delicious," Wonder Woman replied as Clark's parents settled in on the couch, leaving me the only one standing.

Ma Kent looked up at me, giving a sweet smile, "Do sit down, darling and help yourself. Before  this lot hog it all," she said as Clark cut off a generous portion of the cobbler. I hesitated for a moment, not quite certain what to make of the offer, and her eyes told me she noticed my hesitance.

In the end, my stomach won out and I took a seat.

Wonder Woman was right. It was delicious.